Go to the Movies

Valuing our cultural creations is a balancing act that requires wisdom and courage. Cultural educator and Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson shares with us the future skills we can all hone for a fuller engagement with art and life. Alissa’s essays and reviews encourage us to be more attentive in our consumption—but not in the ways we might typically consider. Alighting on subjects as varied as C.S. Lewis, Alien: Covenant, The Good Place, and Breaking Bad, Alissa and I explore what it means to be a “critic,” how art can connect us through time and space, and how we can stay one step ahead in a new age of “creative machines.” We wrestle with how data literacy can change what we consider valuable—from diversifying the Oscars to the problem with Rotten Tomatoes. And we cover apocalypse anxiety! As co-author of the book How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, and Politics at the End of the World, Alissa offers insights to how we think about end times, and how to live with our connected individuality.

Guest

Alissa Wilkinson

Alissa Wilkinson is a staff writer and critic at Vox.com, where she covers film, culture, and sometimes religion; an associate professor of English and humanities at The King’s College in New York City; and co-author of How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, and Politics at the End of the World.